“Um. Well, you see. Oh, let me start with… Well, okay, like these two, I found the love of my life,” she finally says, and my heart just stops, restarts, and kicks into overdrive. “Um, but I have this really bad habit of not giving in to what I want, what I feel, and I’m kind of a…” She smiles. “He once called me a beautiful disaster, and that couldn’t be more true. The problem is, I kinda sorta hid him from the world and tried to keep our relationship a secret because I was scared that he would leave me. And if no one knew that he was the beginning to my end, then it wouldn’t hurt so bad. But then I watched him walk away from me because I lied and told my dad that he didn’t matter,” she explains, and I scoff as I look around. Everyone doesn’t know what the hell is going on. She’s rambling, and I find it very endearing. “I didn’t care about anyone else; I didn’t even care about me. All I cared about was the fact that I hurt him,” she says, her voice breaking. “I have to apologize for that,” she says, and then her eyes flood with tears before spilling over. Sucking in a breath, she admits, “I’m really bad at that, ask anyone. I don’t show emotion, I don’t say sorry, and I, for sure, don’t show weakness, but with him it’s easy. I’ll apologize over and over again, and I probably will have to because I’m stubborn and I think I need to be right all the time, but this made me realize I don’t. I just need to be with him,” she says, wiping her face as her eyes bore into mine. “Because like Jude sang, even when I lose, I’m winning because I’m loved by you,” she says, and tears well up in my own eyes.

Emotion chokes me as I watch her come undone before my eyes. This is my favorite part of her. The honest, emotional part. But then, that’s a lie because I love all of her. I do. The good and the bad, all of it. I love Baylor Irene Moore. The whole package.

Taking a step toward her, I say, “You’re killing me here.”

She smiles, wiping away at her face. “I’m pretty sure I made him feel like a doormat, and in the beginning I promised to never do that, and I still feel I didn’t. If anything, he’s the doormat to my home, and my home is his heart,” she cries, her tears streaming down her face before she holds her hand up. “Yes, I know that was corny. Shut up, Jace and Markus.”

People laugh, but all I can do is stare into her eyes because I really don’t think she realizes how much that means to me. Or maybe she does, because as her eyes burn into mine, her tears spilling over her cheeks, I feel nothing but love and understanding for the girl I fell head over heels for on the beach. The one who punched me square in the face, the one who has challenged me since day one, the one who has my heart.

My sure bet.

My Baylor.

Clearing her throat, she blinks away her tears before sucking in a deep breath. “So to end my little plea for forgiveness, in the corniest and most girlish way,” she adds, and I can’t help but laugh at that until her eyes turn serious, the hazel turning to a dark brown as they cloud with more tears. “I need to say, my name is Baylor Moore, and I am completely and utterly in love with you, Jayden Mitchell Sinclair,” she says, her eyes never leaving mine.

My heart, it has burst through my chest and is waiting for her to take it, but before I can move to her or say anything, she says, “And I’ll never hold that in again because I want the world to know I love you and only you. Yeah, the future is so unclear, but as long as you are with me, loving me, I’ll see my way.”

She then drops the mic against her thigh and looks at me, but I can’t move. The room, it’s silent, everyone’s eyes on me, and shit, my mom is bawling like a damn baby. Jude and Claire are giving me that encouraging smile, and Jace is looking at me like I’m an idiot.

“You know what to do, dude,” he says, and I do know what to do.

But as look back at her, I’m speechless. This girl. My God, she’s hell on the heart, and I knew from the beginning she would be. That never derailed me either, and this little bump in the road can’t. We are strong as long as we are honest and we love each other. Man, I’ve waited for her to tell me those three words since the moment I met her, and what a way to tell me, in a way I would never expect her to.

It is so unlike her and it proves so much.

Her actions, they blow me away.

Shaking my head in disbelief, I call to her, “Get your ass over here.”

Handing the mic to Jude, she cautiously walks over to me, and it’s so quiet that you can hear a pin drop as she stops in front of me. “I’m rea—”

“Shut up,” I say sharply, holding her gaze. “And say it again.”

Her eyes hold mine for a long time, tears spilling over and rolling down her cheeks as she breathes deeply. Then a small, watery smile covers her sweet lips, and I’m breathless. Rendered speechless at the mere thought that I get to spend the rest of my days with this gorgeous disaster of a woman.

“I love you,” she says, her lip wobbling. “I love you so much it hurts.”

Taking her in my arms, I move my nose against hers, my eyes boring into hers as my heart pounds against my chest, trying to get home. “I love you more than that, Baylor, so much more.”

“I should have told you sooner, but I was waiting for you to tell me again so I could say it back.”

“And I was waiting for you to tell me because I didn’t want to tell you and have you not say it back,” I tell her and she grins, her tears rolling down her cheeks.

“Why is it a constant competition with us?”

“’Cause that’s us,” I explain. “And I wouldn’t want to compete against anyone but you, Baylor Irene Moore.”

“Good, ’cause you won’t,” she challenges, her nose moving against mine. “Because I love you so damn much, and you aren’t going anywhere.”

Kissing her nose, I whisper against her lips, “That’s all I need to hear.”

And as I press my lips to hers, her fingers threading into my hair as her body molds to mine, I know that I just won.

Just like I knew I would.

I always expected Jayden to go first.

I mean, how could he not? He should have gone in last year.

Not only is he one of the greatest players I’ve ever seen, he’s a leader. And with the announcement of Shea Adler’s last year in the NHL, Jayden will be an asset to the Nashville Assassins once he retires. He could be their leader. As he stands beside me, his eyes full of blissful happiness, he looks at me and I can only grin.